To follow love
by TwistedPenguin
Summary: Follow your heart, no matter how far it tries to run. SakuNaru. Anti SasuSaku. R
1. At the wall

"S-s-sakura...where are you going?" stuttered Naruto.

He had stopped by Sakura's to see if she would go with him to Icharaku. She denied him every time, but he still came by at least once a week to try. This go-around, she wasn't home, so he went out to look for her. It had been several hours and he had been getting worried. Then...he found her. Clad in dark clothing and standing atop Konoha's southern wall. She was staring out towards the forest with tears in her eyes.

She turned to Naruto. "I have to go. I have to be with him. I have to join the Akatsuki".

"Sakura! You can't!" Naruto yelled in exasperation. Sasuke left him for power, and now Sakura was trying to leave for Sasuke. He couldn't let it happen, he couldn't lose another friend

"Naruto, I have to. I love him and if this is the only way to be with him, then its what I have to do." Tears were flowing freely from her aquamarine eyes. She hated to see the pain in Naruto's dark blue eyes, the pain that was caused by her. As much as she didn't want to hurt him, she had to go. Everyday without Sasuke was unbearable. The only distraction from it was work from Tsunade, and rarely did that help. Also, every moment she spent with Naruto reminded her of the old days, the days of team 7. How the two boys fought and trained like brothers, and how she had feelings far deeper for the Uchiha than anyone could have understood.

"You love him still? After what he did to the village? To you? He LEFT you Sakura! He isn't worth throwing your life away for. Too many people love you. Too many people need you. I need you, I love you!" Naruto was pissed. Not at Sakura, he could never be upset with her. No, he was pissed at that damned Uchiha. If he had just let go of the past like many others had to, he wouldn't have been such a power hungry bastard and he wouldn't have left everyone, especially Sakura. As much as he hated it, he knew she loved Sasuke, but it still enraged him that he could have hurt her the way he did.

"Goodbye Naruto" whispered Sakura, and with that she jumped from the wall and sped off into the forest. His words hurt, but she couldn't have explained herself to him. She couldn't quite explain it to herself, she just knew that she had to go, she had to be with him.

"Not this time" Naruto growled, and sped after her.


	2. In the woods

Sakura ran as fast as she could, flying through the woods like a falcon. She knew Naruto wasn't far behind her, she was just hoping she could manage to outmaneuver him. She stopped at a clearing, hiding herself in the roots of a large tree, and sat quietly, listening and feeling for his nearing presence.

Sure that she had finally avoided him, she came out from hiding and continued on her way. Internally, she thanked Tsunade for the rigorous training she received, as without it she would have had no chance against Naruto.

"You underestimate me" came a voice from behind her. Sakura froze. _I...I thought I lost HIM! _She thought to herself. Apparently that wasn't the case. She turned to face him.

"Naruto...why don't you UNDERSTAND!" she yelled in exasperation.

He glared at her. "There is no way in hell that I would let you throw your life away like Sasuke did. I know you love him, I've had to come to terms with that. However, you are being SELFISH! People in the village NEED you, Sakura!" He was nearly growling at her, and to a degree, it frightened her. He only used that tone when he was dead set on his goal, and that wasn't good new for her.

"Naruto, no one needs me. I'm no help to anyone" she muttered, almost to herself. "I am nothing...I have a chance to be something if I have Sasuke...even if it means giving up everything I have. It will all be worth it to give my life meaning again."

" DAMMIT SAKURA!" Naruto screamed. "More people in that village need you than you would ever imagine. Your mother...Tsunade...practically every up and coming medical ninja...and mostly, me. I need you. You're the only reason I've been able to keep going through all this bullshit."

Sakura could see the tears welling up in his eyes, and the pain she felt was unbearable. Well, almost. "Naruto...I'm sorry, I have to go. I have made up my mind. You will not stop me."

"So, you're just going to leave..like that..that...that bastard? Ditch the village? How? How can you do that?" he asked, pleadingly.

"Don't call him that...and yes, if thats the way you're going to say it, yes. I'm leaving the village." Sakura said defeatedly. Internally, she was waging a war with herself. She had been for months, but she thought a side had finally won. Apparently not. She was still going to try to go on with her final decision, and make things right. Honestly, she didn't even know if Sasuke would take her if she showed up...and what she would do if he DID reject her was a mystery to all. She knew she wouldn't be able to come back to Konoha. She had to rely completely on faith. That in the end, Sasuke would see her, see her love, and love her back. Otherwise, her life wasn't worth living.

"I can't let you do that." Naruto said, the fierceness in his voice sent shivers through her spine.

"And why not!?" she shouted.

"Because I love you!" he shouted back.

"I'm sorry, but I am going!" she said turning to leave.

"Not if I have anything to do with it" he growled. "Your coming back to Konoha, tonight, conscience or otherwise.


	3. Collapsed

Ok, before I begin, I would like to thank those who have read/reviewed/favorited/ect. It really does mean a lot to me to know that there are people in the cyber-world who actually LIKE my writing, or are at least entertained by it.

I warn you now: I have never written a fight scene, and thats what you are about to see. Forgive me if I murder it.

deep breath Here goes nothing!!

- -

Sakura turned back to the growling and determined Naruto. She had been hoping, praying, that it wouldn't have come to this, but she had still expected it. Memories of the day Sasuke left flashed in her mind. Naruto had gone after him...not only for his own sake, but for hers too. He had promised to bring Sasuke back, and when he failed, he wasn't able to forgive himself.

She could imagine the pain...the pain of failure...the pain of losing a friend...the pain of letting another friend down. Today, however, that pain would be greatest because it would be her fault that he would fail...she would make him let himself down.

"If thats the way it must be, then thats the way it will be" Sakura said quietly. "I just hope not to hurt you."

**KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!**Naruto yelled. A hundred Naruto replicas appeared all around her. She took her stance, ready to face each and everyone of them.

The clones separated into groups of 3 and 4, for later attacks she assumed. A team came at her from in front. She jumped to the side, releasing 3 shuriken and taking out the clones.

Two more teams of clones attacked, one from above, the other from behind. She released another set of shuriken in the direction of the group behind her, and, focusing the chakra to her hands, sending rapid blows to each of the clones, each one dispersing to nothing after the first set of hits.

Sakura focused her chakra, attempting to find the true Naruto in the sea of fakes. She learned long ago that, even though the clones for a complete duplicate of the original, Naruto's chakra had a very slight difference. Had it not been for all their time spent together, she never would be able to tell the difference. However, she soon locked on to the real one.

"Not quite yet" she heard one of the clones say.

Before she had a chance to do anything, she heard the whistling of several hundred kunais and shuriken coming straight for her.

She managed to dodge most of them. She had been grazed by a few of them, mostly on the arms and legs, and she had a decent cut on her cheek. She wiped the blood from her face, not to be haltered by the small wounds.

Just then, she felt his presence behind her, his true self. He was too close for her to be able to do something, so she just stood there, thinking frantically of a way to get out of this.

"You know...I did learn something useful from that pervy sage" Naruto whispered into her ear.

"Oh, and what was that?" she asked him, he voice a whisper as well.

"There is a spot on the human skull, that, if chakra is focused into someones finger and the hit that spot, the victim will fall, unconscious."

tap

Sakura gasped, then fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Naruto sighed, dusting himself off. He looked at her solemnly. Luckily, there was no damage done. His flying-weapon diversion had done its job to throw her off his scent. He knew she could pick him out from the clones, and had to do something about it.

He walked over to her. She looked so peaceful, lying there on the ground. He hated to be the reason she was there, but he had no other options. He refused to let another friend leave him. Especially her.

He remembered the first day they met. She had been talking to the tall blond...Ino. They were having some sort of altercation. The last words he caught were "Insult me all you want, I am still a better ninja". They were Sakura's words. Naruto couldn't help but to chime in with his agreement.

He smiled to himself, remembering how foolish he was back then. Even then, though. He knew that the pink haired girl was going to be the death of him. She was beautiful, smart, and fierce. Everything about her infatuated him. He did everything he could to get her to at least acknowledge him, but she was always so obsessed over that damn Sasuke...

Just thinking of him made him want to hit something. Of course Sakura would like him...he was the top of the class, he was good looking, and he was so cool about everything. He didn't have a chance with that guy around. Internally, Naruto had actually hoped that Sasuke leaving would mean that Sakura would finally see Naruto the way he saw her, but of course not.

Sighing, he picked Sakura up from the ground. He held her close to him, not wanting anything to be able to hurt her.

"I will never let you go" he whispered to her.

Sakura smiled in her sleeping state. Naruto smiled too. Although she was unconscious he was glad that his reassurance could make her feel better, even if it meant nothing in the real world.

He began walking back to the village. He knew he had a while before she awoke and he wanted to enjoy every moment of holding her that he could, as he was sure that he wouldn't be able to do it again for a while, if ever.

--

sigh done! Next chapter probably out in the next couple days. Constructive criticism and reassurances are always great. Hope the fight wasn't a HUGE dissapointment...Sakura is hard to write a fight scene with, her stuff is generally visually impressive. Oh well!


	4. Awake

Sakura's eyes fluttered open

Sakura's eyes fluttered open. She looked around her, very confused. She was in a hospital room. She could barely make out the outline of someone sitting in a chair in the far corner of the room. She tried to recall what happened.

She remembered trying to leave Konoha. Naruto had followed her. They had fought.

She remembered him coming up behind her, then…..nothing.

"He…he did the same thing Sasuke did!!" she thought to herself. She was furious. This was the second time someone had pulled this on her. Go figure.

"Sakura-chan?"

She heard her name called out, barely.

"Sakura, are you okay?" it was Naruto.

"Yes, I am fine." She muttered, turning to her side. He had prevented her from leaving, from being with Sasuke. She wanted nothing to do with him.

"I'm glad you are okay. I'll go tell Tsunade you have come to and then I'll be off. I know I'm the last person you want to see right now. Hopefully you can forgive me."

Sakura could hear the tears in his voice. She wanted to stop him, to tell him that she forgave him, thank him for stopping her, but her pride was in the way. She couldn't admit to him, to herself, that he had in fact saved her.

She heard the door open and close. Sakura sighed. Whatever she wanted to do was pointless now because it was too late. She closed her eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

_She was running as hard as she could. She was reaching her limit, and quickly. _

"_Why am I running? Whats going on?" she thought to herself._

_Just then, she stopped in front of a door. It looked like all the others on the hallway, which looked eerily like one of the many and the school. This door, however, was important. She turned the handle, and entered. _

_The room was a class room, meaning the builidng was in fact a school, her school, their school. The sight before her made her heart stop. There he was. The one she loved, and he was holding on to someone, choking them. A second look showed this other person to be Naruto. She gasped. _

"_Sasuke! What are you doing! Let him go! We came to help, we want to save you, to bring you back!" The Uchiha glared, sending shivers down her spine._

"_I do not want to come back. If I did, I would have on my own."_

_She was confused. "Then let Naruto go! What are you doing!? Let him go!"_

_Right before her eyes, the figure that was Sasuke began to fade. Although he was dissapearing, Naruto was still gasping for air slowly dying. _

"_Its you choice." Came a voice from what seemed like every direction. "You go after Sasuke, and you lose them both. Save Naruto, and atleast you have one."_

"_Whats going on!? Why am I here? What happened to Sasuke?" she yelled to the voice in esxasperation. _

"_Sasuke is gone. Naruto is still here. Save him before you lose them both._

Sakura shot up, beads of sweat dripping from her hair and face. Her sheets were soaked with her sweat.

"It was only a dream" she realized. It was still a frightening one. She still remembered it vividly and reliving it gave her the chills.

"Sakura! Are you ok?" It was Tsunade.

"Yes, I'm fine." Sakura said shakily.

"I could hear you from down the hall. You were screaming. What happened?" her sensei asked, her voice laced with concern.

"I just had a dream is all" Sakura responded.

"Ok. Well, Naruto came to get me. He told me what happened. I don't expect an explanation, Im sure you had your reasons, and I'm just glad Naruto had his."

Sakura lowered her head, not wanting to make eye contact with Tsunade.

"I'm sorry" Sakura mumbled.

"Im not the one to apologize to." Tsunade replied sternly.

Sakura looked at her in confusion.

"The only person that deserves and apology is the one who brought you back. Im not sure where he is, but he said he wasn't coming back for a while."

Hearing this, Sakura broke into tears. Tsunade pulled her into a hug, and Sakura sobbed into her shoulder.

"What have I done?" Sakura thought to herself.


	5. Gone

He ran. Hard and fast. Never stopping. He had to get as far away from that place as he could.

Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes. He hated himself for having to hurt her, but he had to, right?

"Yes, you had to do it." Naruto told himself. There were too many people that needed Sakura. She couldn't just leave. She was the second best medic in all of Konoha, only bested by Tsunade-sama herself. Survival rates had sky rocketed since Sakura had been placed as head med-nin at the hospital and it wasn't just coincidence. Between her amazing skills and drive to be more than the little girl who always got in the way that she used to be, she saved more lives in her first year than most meds did in their entire lives. It was because she made every case personal, each ninja she gave the face of a dear friend, and tried her hardest to save them, just like whoever was under her care was a dear friend. During operations she could actually be heard calling the patience names of her friends. Only too many times had the med-staff heard her tell a close-to-death patient "hold on Lee" or "Don't you dare die, Hinata" when in fact the person on the table was a complete stranger to her.

Naruto just ran harder. He couldn't stand to admit it to himself, but he also needed her. She was the love of his life. Even when he was the annoying prankster of the village, he couldn't help but to try to straighten up around her, try to act cool, try to be just like the baka that SHE loved. Thats the reason that, when Sasuke left, Naruto went after him. Sure, he'd though of Sasuke as the closest thing to a brother he had, but he also knew how broken Sakura would be without him. He had been surprised to see how things were flipped in the end. Sakura had managed to at least put on a front. She acted like everything was alright while Naruto fell to pieces. She was there for him, even after all of his stupidity.

Even when he'd left for the three years to train with Jiraiya, he couldn't help but to think about when he wasn't too worn out to use his brain. He always wondered what she was thinking about, how she was holding up...

"Damn that troublesome woman" Naruto said to himself, letting the tears flow freely. He then laughed to himself, realizing just how much like that lazy Shikamaru he had sounded.

There was a flash of silver, then Naruto was on the ground.

"Wha- what the Hell?!" he yelled at whatever it was that had knocked him over.

"What have I told you about that language, Naruto?"

Naruto sighed. "Kakashi, this really isn't the best of times to be giving me lectures on my language." Naruto said grumpily. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Why, I was just out for a stroll." Kakashi replied innocently. Then he looked around them, surveying the area. "Might I ask why YOU are so far from the village?" Kakashi asked, looking back towards Naruto.

"I don't know. I just had to get out of there..." Naruto said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Ok" was all Kakashi said.

Naruto just stood there for a moment, trying to decide what to do next. Kakashi didn't look like he was preparing to leave, so Naruto decided to just walk off.

"Where you going now?" Kakashi asked as Naruto walked past him.

Naruto stopped. "I don't know. Away I s'pose. Maybe I'll go visit Gaara or something. I need to clear my head."

Kakashi nodded. "Just make sure you come back in one piece" Kakashi said. He gave Naruto's shoulder a sympathetic pat and took off into the forest.

"Kaiki-sensei" Naruto muttered to himself.

"Thats exactly what I'm going to do" Naruto said out loud to himself. Hearing his own voice in the still silence of the forest startled him. He then took off in the direction of Sunagakure.


End file.
